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2009 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium - Call for papers
by Daniel Schultz 08 Jul '09

08 Jul '09

This is the second call for papers for the 2009 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held October 9 - 11 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel at the Baltimore Washington Airport. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, with final copy submitted by September 1, 2009 for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV, at n8fgv(a)amsat.org.

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2009 AMSAT Symposium
by Frank H. Bauer 24 Jun '09

24 Jun '09

All, We are gearing up for this year's AMSAT Symposium, to be held in our area October 9-11, 2009. The symposium will be held in "Charm City"---Baltimore Maryland; at the Sheraton Four Points, BWI Airport. This is a special year and a special symposium in that we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary!! At this point, the Symposium Volunteer team have met twice and are quickly solidifying the program. We do need some additional volunteer support and we are hoping you will be willing to help. Specifically, we are looking for volunteers to help with running the AV system, helping set up and maintaining the poster session, support meeting registration, provide symposium paper moderation, and provide support as part of the PR team. These are some of the areas we need help, but could use support in many other areas too. If you are interested in helping with this year's symposium, please contact me directly at ka3hdo(a)comcast.net. You do not have to have prior experience---we will train all volunteers. Please seriously consider volunteering. And definitely come to this year's symposium there will be some special surprises this year. In addition, the symposium doesn't come to this area very often. Thanks es 73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO

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2009 AMSAT Annhual Meeting and Space Symposium - Call for papers
by Daniel Schultz 08 Jun '09

08 Jun '09

This is the first call for papers for the 2009 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held October 9 - 11 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel at the Baltimore Washington Airport. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, with final copy submitted by September 1, 2009 for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV, at n8fgv(a)amsat.org.

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2009 AMSAT-DC Workshop Results!
by Kilroy, Patrick L. (GSFC-5680) 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

Greetings! The 2009 AMSAT-DC Workshop was held this past Saturday as planned. It was held in place of the annual spring "AMSAT-DC Meeting and Space Seminar" of previous years, as voted by acclamation at last year's meeting. Something "new and different" was the vision. And, ... What a great day ... for education, for AMSAT and for NASA! The workshop was not without its scrapes, cuts and bruises. After all, it was an experiment unto itself, in part to see how well such an event might "take" in the mid-Atlantic USA region before attempting to emerge beyond. In the all-day event, a total of five individuals participated and three flight modules were built. We had humble beginnings, indeed. A follow up session is in the planning stage. (We didn't have enough time to complete some troubleshooting and to start the calibration procedure on each module.) We will meet at NASA GSFC again in the next month or two -- this time, instead of in a huge cushy conference room serving as our "fab lab", it will be inside a real space flight hardware laboratory -- to calibrate the PICetSat II flight sensors. Would you like to participate in a calibration session? Even if you missed the workshop, you are welcome to "finish the job" with us! The session(s) are free, but slots are VERY limited. Current AMSAT membership is required, and an advanced RSVP is required for security purposes. Contact me by e-mail if you are interested in participating. After our next AMSAT-DC planning telecon (to be held within the next two weeks) I will release our calibration date(s) and time. Please share the excitement. Please pass the word. What a great day for education and outreach. And fun! Respectfully submitted, Pat Kilroy, N8PK, co-host Bruce Semple, WA3SWJ, co-host AMSAT-DC guys ------------------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 14:11:04 -0600 From: Patrick.L.Kilroy(a)nasa.gov> Subject: [amsat-dc] AMSAT-DC Workshop Saturday, April 25, in Greenbelt, Md To: <amsat-dc(a)amsat.org> AN AMSAT-DC WORKSHOP will be held on Saturday, April 25, at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. A small "simulated satellite" kit will be built, tested and operated by individuals attending. The completed kit, soon to be widely known as a PICetSat II module, is a simple remote sensing unit that serves as an expendable high-altitude small balloon payload. It transmits downlink telemetry on the 70 cm Amateur Radio band. Other attendees will provide and configure radios, computers and software needed to receive, decode and analyze the PICetSat II telemetry. The workshop is an experiment unto itself for the sponsoring AMSAT-DC group. This workshop may prove to be a fine training opportunity for one to learn the basics of the design, construction, testing, calibrating and operating an earth- orbiting satellite. All in one long Saturday of fun! HELP IS NEEDED The workshop planning team meets weekly on Thursday evenings via a telephone conference. If you wish to help organize and/or execute the workshop then there may still be time to hop aboard if you are quick. Contact me by e-mail for the details of connecting with the group on the telecom at pat.kilroy(a)nasa.gov. We need another experienced soldering and construction helper or two, a photographer, a videographer, and several "Go-fers" to name a few. INFORMATION COMING Because of the workshop's experimental nature, the size is designed to be small in attendance this inaugural year. It will be an exclusive opportunity to AMSAT members, new and old alike. On Sunday, March 16, we expect to release details on the attendance application process and donation. Watch for information about the workshop via the AMSAT News Service (ANS) bulletins, the AMSAT-DC e-mail list, and the local AMSAT-DC web page. IMPORTANT LINKS http://www.amsat.org/ http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/ http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/ More info to follow later. Thank you for your patience on this subject. Cheers, Pat Kilroy N8PK AMSAT Area Coordinator

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Fwd: What Would It Take ?
by Pat Kilroy 17 Apr '09

17 Apr '09

Please go to the local AMSAT web page at http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/ and read about the AMSAT-DC event on Saturday, April 25. Then read Bruce's message below. And then please respond to Bruce and me at our contact numbers below. Thank you! Sincerely, Pat N8PK http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/ -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Semple [mailto:brucesemple@verizon.net] Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 08:52 PM Subject: What Would It Take ? What would it take to get you to attend our event on April 25? Or what would it take to get you to attend on a different date later this Spring or Summer? For our April 25th event, we need to get turn in names to the NASA security desk early next week. As of this writing, we have three people signed up ... Is it a cost issue? Is it a scheduling conflict? Is it the program format? What is the single thing that would bring you out to our next meeting? We want to hear from you! Many thanks, Pat Kilroy, N8PK (Patrick.L.Kilroy(a)nasa.gov) 301-286-1984 weekdays Bruce Semple, WA3SWJ (bruce.semple(a)verizon.net) 301-803-6175 weekdays Thanks & 73, Bruce WA3SWJ http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/

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FW: Center Director Mourns Passing
by Kilroy, Patrick L. (GSFC-5680) 05 Mar '09

05 Mar '09

FYI Mario Acuna callsign: LU9HBG -pk. -----Original Message----- From: James E. Gass Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 11:01 AM To: Minetto, Fred A. (GSFC-6950) Cc: GARC-BB Subject: Re: WA3NAN: Passing of Mario Acuna ---------------------------------------------------------- This message traffic is of, by and for members and friends of the NASA Goddard Amateur Radio Club (GARC) and WA3NAN. ---------------------------------------------------------- Fred, That's [sad] news. Mario was a part of the heart and soul of the science community here at Goddard for a very long time. A real pioneer in space magnetometry. Jim N3CJN Fred Minetto wrote: > ---------------------------------------------------------- > This message traffic is of, by and for members and friends > of the NASA Goddard Amateur Radio Club (GARC) and WA3NAN. > ---------------------------------------------------------- > > To all of GARC, > > Mario Acuna passed away last night, in the comfort of his home, > surrounded by his family and loved ones. He leaves a devoted wife, > Barbara; sons Jamie, Andrew, and Daniel; daughter Marta, and five > grandchildren, with more on the way. He passed peacefully, content > with all that life afforded him. > > A good man, scientist, and fellow Ham radio operator. He will be missed. > > Fred > KB3PEE ________________________________________ From: On Behalf Of GSFC-PAO Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 3:05 PM To: gsfc_all(a)listserv.gsfc.nasa.gov Subject: Center Director Mourns Passing of GSFC Employees Colleagues: It with profound sadness to inform you that Goddard has tragically lost several members of its family in the past few days. Dr. Mario Acuña, a Senior Astrophysicist in the Planetary Magnetospheres Lab, passed away last night, in the comfort of his home, surrounded by his family and loved ones. Dr. Acuña was world renown for his work in magnetic fields and plasmas in the solar system, and is one of most prolific and accomplished scientists to ever work at Goddard. He has been an Instrument Scientist, Co-Investigator or Principal Investigator in multiple NASA and ESA missions such as Pioneer, Voyager, Mariner, Giotto, Tether, ISPM, and many others, and the Principal Investigator or Lead Scientist for the magnetometer investigations on the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission, Mars Global Surveyor, Lunar Prospector, Messenger and STEREO. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2007 and was honored by NASA with numerous prestigious awards including the GSFC John C. Lindsay and Moe I. Schneebaum Memorial Awards, the Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, the Distinguished Service Medal and a Presidential Meritorious Rank Award. His death follows a valiant fight against multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood. He leaves a devoted wife, Barbara; sons Jamie, Andrew, and Daniel; daughter Marta, and five grandchildren. [snip] Words cannot adequately express the deep and abiding sorrow we all feel upon hearing of the loss of our friends and colleagues. Each, in his or her own way, made a lasting contribution to making Goddard what it is today, and we will miss them terribly. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and friends. Rob Strain Center Director Goddard

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AMSAT-DC Workshop Saturday, April 25, in Greenbelt, Md
by Kilroy, Patrick L. (GSFC-5680) 05 Mar '09

05 Mar '09

AN AMSAT-DC WORKSHOP will be held on Saturday, April 25, at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. A small "simulated satellite" kit will be built, tested and operated by individuals attending. The completed kit, soon to be widely known as a PICetSat II module, is a simple remote sensing unit that serves as an expendable high-altitude small balloon payload. It transmits downlink telemetry on the 70 cm Amateur Radio band. Other attendees will provide and configure radios, computers and software needed to receive, decode and analyze the PICetSat II telemetry. The workshop is an experiment unto itself for the sponsoring AMSAT-DC group. This workshop may prove to be a fine training opportunity for one to learn the basics of the design, construction, testing, calibrating and operating an earth- orbiting satellite. All in one long Saturday of fun! HELP IS NEEDED The workshop planning team meets weekly on Thursday evenings via a telephone conference. If you wish to help organize and/or execute the workshop then there may still be time to hop aboard if you are quick. Contact me by e-mail for the details of connecting with the group on the telecom at pat.kilroy(a)nasa.gov. We need another experienced soldering and construction helper or two, a photographer, a videographer, and several "Go-fers" to name a few. INFORMATION COMING Because of the workshop's experimental nature, the size is designed to be small in attendance this inaugural year. It will be an exclusive opportunity to AMSAT members, new and old alike. On Sunday, March 16, we expect to release details on the attendance application process and donation. Watch for information about the workshop via the AMSAT News Service (ANS) bulletins, the AMSAT-DC e-mail list, and the local AMSAT-DC web page. IMPORTANT LINKS http://www.amsat.org/ http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/ http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/ More info to follow later. Thank you for your patience on this subject. Cheers, Pat Kilroy N8PK AMSAT Area Coordinator -----Original Message----- SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-011.03 AMSAT-DC Spring Satellite Workshop Seeks Members for Mission Teams AMSAT News Service Bulletin 011.03 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 11, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-011.03 If you find yourself in the Baltimore-Washington DC area this spring you may be interested in learning more and participating in an AMSAT-DC workshop which simulates building, testing, launch- ing, and receiving signals from an Amateur Radio satellite. AMSAT Area Coordinator for the Maryland-DC area, Pat Kilroy, N8PK is proposing such a workshop for the 2009 AMSAT-DC Meeting and Space Seminar. This meeting is historically held in early spring at or near the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Pat is proposing individuals and groups of Amateur Radio operators form teams who compete at this AMSAT-DC workshop to create and operate a satellite mission. The first groups will build a PICetSat II flight module from a kit of electronic parts on a small printed circuit board. You can see an example of the original PICetSat module at: http://patkilroy.com/simsat/3/ The second groups will set up simple satellite ground stations to operate on 433.920 MHz SSB. These team members need to provide a radio, antenna, and feedline for the 70 cm band. The third groups will be in charge of setting up and loading soft- ware in the computers at the ground stations to decode the telemetry and to analyze it according to a set of instructions. This event will be perfect for beginners and advanced satellite users alike, all ultimately working together to "launch" the flight module, receive the downlink, and decode the telemetry. Instructions will be provided in advance of the event to enhance preparation. Pat notes he needs volunteer help to plan and organize this event. A couple of dedicated individuals are needed immediately to start the plans to lock in the workshop meeting space, advertise the event, to do the footwork needed to process participant applications, and to assure one set of radio and computer stations are on hand and ready at the start of the workshop. To volunteer contact Pat at his e-mail address: n8pk(a)amsat.org as soon as possible. Pat will convene a conference call for all interested participants to finalize the Workshop details with the volunteers. Pat requests that interested amateur radio operators RSVP to him via e-mail n8pk(a)amsat.org and indicate which group you will be most inter- ested in working with. The cost of the Workshop is still "TBD" to cover the materials and meeting space. Those choosing the PICetSat II will keep their completed project. [ANS thanks Pat, N8PK for the above information] /EX -----Original Message----- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 09:43:37 -0600 From: Patrick.L.Kilroy(a)nasa.gov Subject: [amsat-dc] AMSAT-DC Workshop Planning Starts Hi! We must start the planning sessions for the next AMSAT-DC gathering. If you would like to join us then please send me an RSVP e-mail soon. I will respond to you with the call-in numbers. Our first planning session will take place next week, via telecon, likely on Thursday evening at 7:00 PM EST. I hope it will last less than a half-hour, certainly no more than 45 minutes. The first agenda item will be to discuss the location and date of the all-day event. You may check the local AMSAT web page at http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc to refresh your memory on what I propose to take shape for this workshop in place of the "old" seminar type of meetings that we held in the past. Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks! Cheers, Pat Kilroy N8PK AMSAT Area Coordinator Maryland-DC Area ----------------------------------------- Mr. Patrick L. Kilroy Flight Systems Integration and Test (I&T) Building 5, Mail Code 568 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 Phone: 301-286-1984 E-mail: Patrick.L.Kilroy(a)nasa.gov ------------------------------------------- LRO Project http://lro.gsfc.nasa.gov "Your writing skills are evidence of your ability to think clearly." - Constance Newman, Director, OPM Outreach: http://patkilroy.com/simsat/3/

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SPACEFLIGHT Magazines For You!
by Eric Rosenberg 16 Feb '09

16 Feb '09

I have a complete set of the 1995 through 2001 British Interplanetary Society's SPACEFLIGHT Magazine. They're yours -- if you pick them up from my QTH in NW Washington, DC... or nearby. 73, Eric W3DQ

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AMSAT-DC Workshop Planning Starts
by Kilroy, Patrick L. (GSFC-568.0) 03 Feb '09

03 Feb '09

Hi! We must start the planning sessions for the next AMSAT-DC gathering. If you would like to join us then please send me an RSVP e-mail soon. I will respond to you with the call-in numbers. Our first planning session will take place next week, via telecon, likely on Thursday evening at 7:00 PM EST. I hope it will last less than a half-hour, certainly no more than 45 minutes. The first agenda item will be to discuss the location and date of the all-day event. You may check the local AMSAT web page at http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc to refresh your memory on what I propose to take shape for this workshop in place of the "old" seminar type of meetings that we held in the past. Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks! Cheers, Pat Kilroy N8PK AMSAT Area Coordinator Maryland-DC Area ----------------------------------------- Mr. Patrick L. Kilroy Flight Systems Integration and Test (I&T) Building 5, Mail Code 568 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 Phone: 301-286-1984 E-mail: Patrick.L.Kilroy(a)nasa.gov ------------------------------------------- LRO Project http://lro.gsfc.nasa.gov "Your writing skills are evidence of your ability to think clearly." - Constance Newman, Director, OPM Outreach: http://patkilroy.com/simsat/

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AMSAT-DC Meeting this Spring?
by Kilroy, Patrick L. (GSFC-568.0) 06 Jan '09

06 Jan '09

Hi! Do we want to hold an AMSAT-DC meeting this spring? At the meeting last year, I announced that perhaps the time is ripe to hold a workshop. Are we still game for this? What fun! My suggestion is that we use the workshop to host three simultaneous groups (or three types of individuals working solo, if prefered, picking any one of the three to emphasize). GROUP ONE One group or set of individuals will build a PICetSat II flight module from a kit of electronic parts on a small printed circuit board (hopefully under $100 each kit). We would need a soldering iron and "optics" at each station even though no tiny SMT parts are planned to be used. See an example of the original PICetSat module at http://patkilroy.com/simsat/3/ GROUP TWO and GROUP THREE Others would set up a simple ground station each, with a choice to work with the radio hardware (bring in radio, antenna and feedline) OR work on setting up the software (bring in a PC or laptop running Windows XPP) to decode the telemetry and to analyze it according to a set of instructions. Frequency: 433.920 MHz SSB. All instructions will be provided in advance to enhance preparation. The event would be either one full day or two half days. At the end, we "launch" a module and copy the telemetry. Perfect for beginners and advanced satellite users alike, all ultimately working together. The donation per individual will be the cost of kit (if desired) plus expenses (divided among participants) plus no more than $10 to the AMSAT-DC "sustenance" fund. I will be very busy finalizing the PICetSat II design and fabricating the PCBs over the next two months. So, I will need more help than ever before in organizing such an event. o Can you help, as a worker? In preparation of the workshop or during the workshop? o Would you attend, as an experimenter? Which group, one, two or three? (Group One: Fabricating/testing/calibrating a flight unit; Two: setting up Ground station hardware; or Three: Ground station software.) Please RSVP e-mail to me if you would like to participate in a telecon one evening to ask questions and start planning for our meeting/ workshop! Until the more productive telecon, I will entertain basic discussion and basic QnA on this e-mail list. Thoughts? Thank you, Pat N8PK AMSAT Area Coordinator Maryland-DC Area ----------------------------------------- Mr. Patrick L. Kilroy Flight Systems Integration and Test (I&T) Building 5, Mail Code 568 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 Phone: 301-286-1984 E-mail: Patrick.L.Kilroy(a)nasa.gov ------------------------------------------- LRO Project http://lro.gsfc.nasa.gov "Your writing skills are evidence of your ability to think clearly." - Constance Newman, Director, OPM Outreach: http://patkilroy.com/simsat/

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